Advent of the Wolf
by Honos Wolf
Summary: AU Harry and his friends are 15 years old as they enter their first year at Hogwarts. Voldemort is a threat to regain power and the year of the wolf is almost upon them all. harry and company must find a way to stem the coming darkness or else lose themselves to it.
1. Chapter 1

(A/N) Alright! A few disclaimers before I begin this story. First of all, I don't own Harry Potter or any characters originally designed by J.K. Rowling – a blanket statement for all future chapters and stories.

Secondly, I've decided to change a few canon things. It never made sense to me that they started their magical studies at age 11 and were in the work force at 18. Seeing no math, science, or language, ever at Hogwarts, it just leads me to believe that those who graduated were pretty much illiterate. As a fix, I've decided to make Hogwarts start at age 15 (when muggles begin high school) and finish up at the age of 22 (when normally would finish college). Giving a more adult age group to a story that deserves it. I will not be changing the main story lines of any of the main books, but I think having an older starting age and whatnot will make the entire experience of fighting a dark wizard a little more believable than an 11 year old defeating a wizard with Voldemort attached to him. If a character is 3 years older than Harry, they will remain such – and so on.

I'm not going to give much away as far as where the story is going to go other than that. I appreciate reviews (it's how I make my story better) and would love to hear your theories or ideas! I'm trying a new approach that I haven't seen before and I hope you guys enjoy it. Thanks!

**Chapter 1**

Harry Potter sat alone in a compartment at the back of the Hogwarts Express. Not only had he been late, but all the other compartments with first years in them seemed to be filled. It's not that he was afraid of being by himself. Countless nights sleeping under the stairs at the Dursley's had made him quite comfortable in silence. The crash course Hagrid had given him in wizarding world practice and etiquette seemed to be fairly true. They kept to their own. The train wasn't even moving yet and Harry was hesitant to say the least. On the bright side, he wouldn't be at Privet Drive for quite some time.

A knock on the door broke him of his reverie. A tall girl with waist length, wavy, strawberry blonde hair slid open the compartment door. The beautiful girl immediately made Harry spring to attention. She hesitantly walked through. She had striking blue eyes and a slim face. Following her through the door was another female. Standing around the same height with straight blonde hair that reached halfway down her back and exciting green eyes stepped beside her.

Harry was used to most girls simply ignoring him. Ever since he was interested in girls, he would always seem to be ignored. Of course, his cousin Dudley never did much to encourage a girl getting to know him. At age 15, he still hadn't had a girlfriend or even his first kiss. He idly fantasized about the two very beautiful girls standing in front of him. They weren't super models, but each pretty in their own way. Susan was slender with a beyond average bust line. Most girls would kill for a figure like she had. Daphne had a more athletic build. She was a few centimeters shorter than Susan, but also quite a bit firmer. He could tell she was incredibly in shape.

"I'm Susan Bones, and this is my friend Daphne Greengrass," the girls with reddish locks introduced. Daphne muttered a slight hello. This pulled Harry from his fantasies. "We were wondering if we could join you? It seems the rest of the compartments are full..."

Thinking it better to be with complete strangers than no one, Harry nodded. Cute strangers was a plus. "I don't see why not." He responded shoving some of his things from the bench to the floor. "My name is Harry Potter."

There was a collective gasp from the duo. Harry had grown accustomed to this in the limited time he had spent in the wizarding world. When he was out with Hagrid, people kept asking to see it. He simply pulled the bangs from his eyes to reveal the iconic lightning shaped scar on his forehead.

"Auntie was telling me that you were in the same year as me. I just never thought to believe her!" Susan exclaimed as she sat down. Seeing the look of boredom and such on the face of the young wizard, she toned down her surprise. "I'm sorry, did I say something wrong?"

Something wrong? No. It wasn't as if Harry knew any better. "No. I'm just not sure I deserve all the nonsense they say about me. I was a baby when I 'saved' the wizarding world," air quotes following. "I'm just Harry."

"Ok, 'Just Harry,' we'll try to remember that," Daphne said sitting down across from the bespectacled boy.

Daphne and Susan had been childhood friends. Susan's Aunt Amelia and Daphne's Aunt Cecilia had been school mates fifteen years prior. Susan had lived with her aunt since her parents had died in the war with Voldemort. Amelia was largely thought to be the brightest witch of her generation. At the age of 29 she was one step away from becoming the next head of the law enforcement arm of the Ministry of Magic. She was rarely in the house, so on days when she would be gone for particularly long periods of time, she would send Susan to spend time with Cecilia.

Mr. Greengrass, a marked man in Voldemort's ranks, was killed during the first war. Not in battle. Bereft with grief after partaking in the raid of the Potter home, Richard abandoned the cause. Seeing young Harry Potter, the same age as his Daphne. He had played a large role in making this child an orphan. In grief he tried to remove the mark, instead, Voldemort removed his head.

After his death, Cecilia moved in with her widowed sister-in-law, Adriana. For the first months of Daphne's life, she received more care from her aunt than from her grief-stricken mother. Both Susan and Daphne had many things in common, just on a familial level. Their common background gave them a great deal of closeness that most relationships never reach.

Susan and Daphne were very aware what the tabloids were saying about Harry Potter. He didn't look anything like the hero that every major paper had painted him to be. He appeared malnourished and ragged. Honestly, he looked like an unsure fifteen year old boy. They knew he grew up with muggles. From the looks of it, not the best muggles.

"Did you have a good summer, Harry?" Daphne asked, but already suspecting she knew the answer. She'd seen that expression in the mirror so many times. Defeat.

Turning away from the pastures flying by the window of the train, Harry responded, "It was alright, I suppose." Short. To the point.

"Well aren't you excited to get to Hogwarts? What house do you think you'll be sorted into?" Susan continued, noticing the look as well. He needed a talk. He just didn't know it yet.

Harry had no idea. He barely knew anything about Hogwarts. "Honestly, I haven't a clue. I don't know much about the wizarding world. Up until four weeks ago, I had no idea I was even a wizard!"

"Well, then we'll help you!" Susan suggested. "I figure I'll be sorted into Hufflepuff. That's where my entire family has been sorted for generations. My Aunt Amelia was a Hufflepuff. She finished her schooling three years early. I don't think I'll be able to do that." Once Susan started to talk it was hard to shut her up. Harry was only half listening. They seemed nice enough, though.

"I can't imagine I'd be put anywhere but Slytherin. As much as I'd like to be in the same house as you, Susan, I don't think 'Puff is the place for me."

"I heard my parents were in Gryffindor. But I don't know a whole lot about them." A small croak disrupted his thought process. The compartment door had been left ajar and a small toad was now hopping its way under the bench. Raising an eyebrow, Harry bent down and grabbed the small amphibian off the floor. He knew that frogs were allowed as pets in the school, so he figured this one must belong to someone.

"I wonder whose frog this is?"

"Your guess is as good as mine," Daphne replied candidly.

The snack trolly came and went. Harry sat the frog next to him as he bought what was left off the cart for his new friends. He held up his hand full of gold coins to the lady working the cart, still having no knowledge of the money system. The girls looked at each other, seeing the mound of gold pieces he just pulled out of his pocket. They hadn't seen money like that. Especially from a boy the same age as themselves.

They sat around for the next half hour or so talking and getting to know one another. Apparently, Daphne was a quidditch fan and had played chaser for her primary school team and Susan liked to knit and garden. Daphne liked transfiguration and Susan liked charms. All of this meant next to nothing to the young boy, but he tried his best to contribute to the conversation. They talked about wizarding cards, exploding snap, and wizarding chess.

Quite suddenly, a stocky boy with short brown hair arrived outside their door. Hurriedly, he slid open the door. "Has anyone seen my fr- TREVOR!"

"This must be your frog," Harry said as he handed the squirming frog to its owner.

"He never stays put. I look away for one second and he's gone. Thank you for looking after him. I've been trying to find him for the past hour." the boy placed the frog back in his bag and sat down, visibly exhausted.

Harry sat down and his hair shifted to one side revealing the scar to the newest inhabitant of the compartment. "You're Harry Potter."

This was going to get old rather quickly. Everyone knew who he was. He was at a distinct disadvantage. "It would appear so..." Harry responded partially annoyed.

Snapping to his senses, the boy quickly corrected himself, "I'm Neville Longbottom." Susan and Daphne both knew of Neville. He too had lost his parents during the last war. The worst part was they were still alive. Death Eaters had driven them insane and left them to rot in St. Mungo's.

The group quickly introduced themselves and were starting to talk further when an older boy came to the door telling them to get ready. The train was about to arrive. Gathering their belongings, they shuffled out into the corridor with the rest of the students and waited for the train to come to a complete stop.

Stepping off the train, they were greeted by a giant of a man trying to corral all of the first years. Harry knew him to be Rubeus Hagrid. "Firs' years!" he called through the early evening fog. Harry, Neville, Daphne, and Susan, all wandered over to Hagrid.

"'ey! 'arry!" the giant called out as he saw his small companion. "Glad to see you made it in one piece!" Seeing the three teens around him, "I see you made some friends. I know you. You're Neville Longbottom. You look just like your dad." Turning his attention he recognized Susan as well, "And I'd be remiss if I didn't know a Bones when I saws one. My name is Hagrid. I'm the groundskeeper and keeper of keys at Hogwarts," he said extending his massive hand to each in turn.

"Sorry, I'd talk more, but I've got work to do. Head down to the lake and jump into a boat. That's how we'll be getting to the castle tonight."

All the younger students found their way to the giant as they were ushered to the bank of the river and into small boats with lanterns. Neville, Harry, Daphne, and Susan, all crowded into one boat as they were given an introduction to the school by the groundskeeper. He told them of the impending sorting and the magic of the castle.

In an instant they were standing outside the Great Hall being greeted by Minerva McGonagall. "My name is Professor McGonagall. I am the transfiguration professor and head of Gryffindor. In the next few moments you all will be sorted into one of four houses," she informed in a light Scottish accent. "Named after the founders of our school, Salazar Slytherin, Helga Hufflepuff, Godric Gryffindor, and Rowena Ravenclaw. Whichever house the sorting hat places you, please move quickly to join your new house's table. No one can eat until everyone has been sorted!" she added with a slight grin.

They were soon ushered in and Harry could hardly believe all the things his eyes were telling him. There was far too much to ever completely understand in the first few moments inside this giant school. He trusted his new friends to help him adjust, be he was still reticent of what was to come.

The rest of the school looked on as Professor McGonagall put a stool and patchy hat in front of the teachers' table. To Harry's amazement, the hat began to sing. Seemed like it sang for hours before it finally asked for the first student.

McGonagall began reading off the names of students in alphabetical order starting with, "Hannah Abbott!"

The hat was placed on her head and with little hesitance, the hat announced "Hufflepuff!"

Susan Bones was also a Hufflepuff. Several others were called. A girl named Hermione Granger was sorted into Ravenclaw. Daphne was placed into Slytherin, as she had suspected. Neville Longbottom was also placed into Hufflepuff.

"Draco Malfoy," was the next name read off.

The hat didn't even bother being placed on the boy's head. Before he even reached the stool, the hat declared "Slytherin!"

Finally, Harry's name was called and a hush fell over the entire room. Harry nervously walked up to the stool and placed the hat on his head. He heard someone talking in his head.

_Yes, yes, yes. Great potential in this one..._

Harry was caught off guard. _Umm, who is this?_

_The Sorting Hat, of course. Such a strong will you have. So many traits but toiled with uncertainty. You could thrive in any house. You would do well in Slytherin. Even Gryffindor. Where do you think you should be?_

_What are you asking me for? Aren't you the Sorting Hat?_

_Well then. Aren't you an impatient one. _

After quite the deliberation the sorting hat finally decided, "HUFFLEPUFF!"

Harry's robe gained the emblem of a badger and the trim turned golden. He sat down next to Neville and Susan, glad to be in a house where he at least knew someone.

The final name called was Ronald Weasley. A red haired boy that tripped over himself nervously as he made his way to the hat. Another quick decision as he was put into Gryffindor.

There were cheers as the sorting finally concluded. Albus Dumbledore, the headmaster, got up to address the students as dinner appeared in front of them. "Welcome to another year of learning at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry!" There was a hearty round of applause and cheering as Dumbledore waved them down and continued. "A few things to keep in mind as we begin this year. As always, the forest on the outskirts of the grounds is Forbidden, as the name would imply. Also, Mr. Filch has posted a list of banned items in every common room." Many students blanched at the name of Argus Filch. He was despised among most of the older students. "And, finally, the corridor on the third floor is off limits."

Finally finishing the clerical parts of his speech, he continued on to the heart of what it meant to be at Hogwarts. "This year, unity is important. I'm sure many of you have heard rumblings that danger is once again afoot." Murmurs went throughout the crowd. "In that light, we must strive to better unite our school. I challenge each and every one of you to get to know your classmates from other houses. You never know, you might find your best friend in Hufflepuff. Maybe you'll find your wife in Slytherin." Many made gagging noises at this reference. "In the days to come, we must learn to rely on one another."

Sitting down, the feast came to full roar. Most students were surprised by the request of the headmaster. Inter-house mingling had never been encouraged.

After the feast, they were quickly ushered to their new common rooms by their prefect Mervyn Wynch. They walked down to the basement followed by the first year Slytherins. They broke away form each other as Susan and Daphne said quick goodbyes and headed to their new homes.

The group stopped at the portrait of a knight. "Ah ha! These must be the new students... looks to be a strong crop this year!"

"Arthur, you would be correct. What is the password for this term?" Mervyn asked, trying to keep his patience.

"No one ever wants to just talk to me. I get SO lonely..." he moaned.

Rolling his eyes, Mervyn decided to play along, "Alright, what would you like to talk about?"

"I don't want to talk to you if you feel like I'm not worth the time! The password is honos. Now be on your way," he said sticking his tongue out at the now disgruntled prefect.

"Well he sure is interesting..." Harry commented to Susan.

Susan chuckled as they all began filing through the now open door. They were greeted by black and yellow throughout the well lit common area. Overstuffed chairs, couches, tables, and even a fireplace. Harry figured he could get used to this. "Most of the houses have similar paintings in front of their common rooms as well," Susan responded. "We just seem to have gotten a particularly senile one."

"Boys downstairs, girls upstairs!" Mervyn commanded as they shuffled to find their new rooms. Harry and Neville wandered all the way down the staircase to the bottom to find the first year dormitories with the rest of their classmates. Susan's was placed at the very top of the staircase. They couldn't be further away from one another.

Neville started unpacking his trunk and placed Trevor on the nightstand. He chose the bed next to Harry's. "I'll be happy when I don't have to walk up and down all those bloody stairs..." Neville whined. He was a bit overweight and was visibly winded from the trip.

"I'm sure it'll get better, Neville," Harry tried to tell him. He didn't really mind. He was happy to just have a real bed to sleep in for the first time in his life. Not only that, he had clothes that fit, an owl to deliver his mail, and even a wand. The more he thought about it, the less scared he was and more excited he became about the new things in his life.

Life was certainly going to be interesting at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.

(A/N) Normally, my note will be at the end of each chapter, but I had a lot to setup before the story even began. PLEASE review the first chapter. I'd love to hear your ideas!

Honos Wolf


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2**

In the weeks that followed, Neville and Susan had taken it upon themselves to acclimate Harry to the wizarding world. Their mission was largely a success. Susan and Neville, from ancient families, taught him the ins and outs of the magical world. Harry was still behind the curve, but was making steady progress. The scared, ignorant, almost annoyingly so, teenager was long gone as he continued to gain a grasp over his new surroundings.

Harry was looking forward to the flying lessons designed for first years. He had waited impatiently since hearing of it.

Malfoy was up to his usual tricks. He was harassing a bushy brown-haired girl about from Harry and Neville. He couldn't hear any of what was going on, but he knew that it couldn't have been anything good.

Lining all of them on the pitch, Madam Hooch began instructing them in the basics of flying.

"Stand astride your broom," the school had provided Cleansweep 7s for instruction. "Say 'up' and the broom will rise to your hand."

It was quite the comical sight. Students who were interested in flight from every house were all yelling choruses of up. Most brooms were barely moving. Ron Weasley was repeatedly getting slapped in the face with the knob of the broom every time he said up. His nose had begun to bleed, and Madam Hooch had to repeatedly fix the ailing redhead's nose.

On his first attempt, Harry was amazed the broom jumped into his outstretched hand. Of course, now he didn't know what to do. He looked around at the others struggling and the sorry image of Ron Weasley. Next to the Gryffindor, Harry saw a tall chestnut haired girl accomplish the same feat as himself. He recognized her to be Fay Dunbar. He knew next to nothing of her other than hearing her name at the sorting ceremony. She was a Gryffindor, as he noted by the red scarf she was wearing. Shortly after that, Neville's broom zoomed up. He seemed shocked that it moved at all.

"I'm only here because my grams thinks I should learn to fly. I never thought I'd actually be able to!"

"See, Neville. I'm sure your grandmother would be impressed with you. If she wasn't, she just doesn't know you." Harry knew from the little time that he knew Neville that he had serious confidence issues. He wasn't a clutz, he was just overly nervous. It seemed no one in his life ever gave him a legitimate chance. He was always compared to his mother and father. They were accomplished wizards. He had been inundated with negative thoughts since he was six. Neville's grandmother blamed him for the loss of her son and daughter-in-law. There was no basis for this blame, but it was a fact of life in his family.

Slowly but surely, the rest of the class were able to get their brooms, although, Harry suspected some of them of cheating and just bending down to pick it up.

"Step over your broom, and gently push off. Get used to balancing in the air. I don't want any of you flying off and getting yourselves hurt."

Harry did as he was told. His feet softly left the ground and he was amazed at the absolutely freeing feeling it gave him. He was disturbed of his new found serenity by yells in the direction of Malfoy. Looking over, he saw that Malfoy had a round object in his hand. Harry knew what was to come next. Draco whipped the object into the air. The girl who seemed visibly upset lost control of her broom and was being tossed and turned as she rose further and further into the air.

Acting purely on instinct, Harry pressed forward as the broom moved swiftly in the direction he willed it. Behind him he heard the distant call, "Hey! That's my rememberall!" coming from Neville.

Madam Hooch was yelling as she chased after the girl. Harry was more focused on the object that was making its descent back to earth. Harry had remembered Neville mentioning that he couldn't find the rememberall his grandmother had given him before the start of term.

The sphere was falling faster than Harry thought he'd be able to catch it. Stretching onto the knob of the broom, he corralled the object and pulled up a few feet from the ground.

Looking back at he classmates, he heard cheers as he lowered himself to the ground and hopped off his broom. Walking back to Madam Hooch, who had successfully saved the young girl, he grinned holding the rememberall openly in his palm.

Not too far from the pitch, Professor Sprout was tending to her plants in the greenhouse overlooking the grounds. When she heard all the shouting, she looked out the glass wall to see the entire scene unfold. Not even Cedric Diggory, a third year, who had much more experience flew with that type of confidence and finesse.

She excitedly rushed out onto the pitch. She knew Cedric was forced to seek out of necessity. Hufflepuff had never had a strong team so when a talented player was sorted into their house, they naturally put them in the most important position on the pitch.

"Madam Hooch! I saw the whole thing from my greenhouse. Is everyone alright?"

"It seems that everyone involved is in one piece," she said glaring at the young Slytherin boy who had caused all the trouble. Madam Hooch wasn't a professor so she did not have the ability to give or take points away from a house.

Professor Sprout, on the other hand, could and did. "10 points from Slytherin." This was met with abhorrent shock from Draco Malfoy and his cronies. No one had taken points from them. "Mister Potter, may I speak with you, please?"

Madam Hooch quickly gave her approval. Nodding, Harry set down his broom after returning the rememberall to his friend.

"Did I do something wrong, Professor?" he asked his head of house.

"Quite the contrary, Harry!" She could hardly contain herself. "I've not seen flying like that in a long time. Normally, first years aren't allowed to play quidditch, but I think you'd be a natural. I'm going to have myself a talk with the headmaster and see if I can't get him to allow you to play seeker for Hufflepuff."

"I don't even know how to play, professor," Harry responded meekly. He knew the rules vaguely, but couldn't imagine playing since he just now had his first experience on a broom. He already knew he loved flying, but the idea seemed daunting.

"Nonsense. I'll get Cedric to teach you."

The matter seemed decided.

* * *

Harry was quickly coming out of his shell. Maybe too quickly for his own good. He had been made a member of the Hufflepuff qidditch team and the renewed popularity as a first year seeker went straight to his ever-inflating ego.

"Neville, how did Hermione Granger get your rememberall, anyway?" Susan asked as they recanted the story of that afternoon. It had been two weeks since the incident.

"I don't know, Susan. I hadn't been able to find it for days."

"She's saying you gave it to her."

This caused Neville to blush. He had been crushing on Hermione since he first saw her on the train. She was kind enough to help him look for Trevor. "I don't know what you're talking about, Susan."

Harry rolled his eyes. Neville and Harry had talked about Hermione at length one night in their room. He also was aware that Neville intended to give his remembrall to Hermione, a muggle born, who was fascinated with everything magic. Harry spared him further embarrassment. Neville had plenty of ammunition against him.

Seeing Fred and George Weasley across the courtyard, he made his way to them.

Harry had become quite the trouble maker in his new found freedom. Most of the pranks were rather harmless, but it gained the attention of the self-proclaimed prank masters of Hogwarts.

He remembered the first encounter fondly. It had been just after the remeberall incident. Harry was enamored with all the things he could do with magic. Add onto that, the prick that was Draco Malfoy was constantly putting his nose in places it didn't belong. Harry didn't want to hurt the idiot, but he wasn't beyond humiliating him. He quickly began looking up charms and incantations for hair color randomizers, underwear fire starters, and other gag spells to make the Slytherin squirm like the snake he was. He was getting quite good. He really enjoyed charms and transfiguration the more and more he learned about them.

"Oy, Harry! You're not doing it right!" Fred had told him for the millionth time.

"If we're going to take you on as an apprentice, Harry, you're going to have to do better than that!"

For the life of him, he had no idea how he had gotten in this predicament. He was just trying to light Malfoy's robes a little bit on fire when the fire headed Weasley twins interrupted his valiant attempt.

From then on, they took him as their squire. Mostly against his will. The pair began teaching him their own machinations.

"Well it'd be easier if you two bloody idiots would get out of my way!"

This naturally led to more badgering and the twins telling him exactly how they'd do it if they were going to pull the prank.

Getting fed up with the babying, when they got in front of him to demonstrate, he cast the ultimate wedgie spell the twins had perfected on Ron on the creators of the spell itself. The same spell they had been trying to teach him. Needless to say, this ended the babying of one Harry Potter.

"Brother!" they squeaked in uncomfortable unison.

Harry had spent weeks with the Gryffindors and was beginning to enjoy their antics, even if they were a bit crazy. He also found the Gryffs in general were trouble makers. One in particular he had met in happenstance when meeting with the twins.

"What _are_ you two doing?" the snarky girl said as she saw the whispering trio. "I know you three are never up to any good."

"Oh lay off, Fay. You know you just want a piece of the action!" George snidely retorted.

"You wish." Rolling her eyes she began to walk away when she finally recognized who the third person was. "Wait a minute, you're Harry Potter, aren't you? I saw how you flew last week. It was amazing!"

"Don't look now, Harry has an admirer," Fred whispered _discreetly_ behind a raised hand.

Harry kicked Fred in the shin before walking over to the cute girl. "Harry Potter, at your service," he said with a mock bow.

"You're a clown, Harry!" George yelled.

"He learned from the best, though, George," Fred countered.

"True..."

"Fay Dunbar," she said with a giggle. "I wish I got to play on the Gryffindor team. You're the first first year in over thirty years who has been allowed to play quidditch for their house."

"If you were on Gryffindor's team, you'd just have to spend more time with those two," Harry said glancing at the twins.

"Very true. Maybe I should just count my blessings."

Harry was content continuing his conversation when he was picked up by both armpits and dragged away, "That's enough, Romeo."

"Hey..."

The trap of foolhardy 15 year old boys was clearly taking a firm grasp on Harry Potter.

* * *

Harry, Daphne, Susan, Neville, and Fay, who had joined their little group, were walking through the school on a quiet Saturday afternoon. Daphne and Fay had hit it off. Apparently, they were more into quidditch than most boys their age. "Would you two shut up?" Susan asked hopefully.

"What would you rather talk about, Susy?" Daphne asked sticking out her tongue at her long time friend.

"Anything but that."

A devious look grabbed Fay's eyes.

"Harry, I don't like when she has that look in her eye. It always means we're about to do something stupid." Neville commented as he saw the expression that was now spreading across Fay's face.

"I say we go see what Dumbledore is hiding on the third floor."

"That's a great, idea, Fay!" Daphne quickly agreed.

"See! See!"

Being normal fifteen year olds, bored fifteen year olds at that, they decided it wouldn't hurt to grab a peek at what the hub bub was about. They were quickly dissuaded from that notion when they came face to face with the three headed dog that was chained inside the clearly locked door. A quick alohomora had changed that, though. Harry was still unsure why Dumbledore would put a dangerous canine in the school.

"Oh comon! Why is there a massive dog in the school now!?" Harry wondered to no one in particular.

"Didn't you notice?" Susan asked as the group caught their breath after sprinting away from the clearly hungry dog.

"Notice what? All the heads? And all those mouths with sharp pointy teeth?" Harry asked snidely.

"Sharp pointy teeth?" Susan responded rolling her eyes.

"Yes, sharp and pointy. What's _your_ point?"

"He was standing over a trap door."

* * *

It had been two months since the the events on the quidditch pitch and three headed dog. Harry, Neville, Susan, Fay, and Daphne, had settled into a routine as the Halloween feast approached.

They spent as much time as they could with Daphne and Fay. It was made significantly easier to see Daphne since the Puffs and Snakes were paired together for their classes. Not much had changed on the unity front. There were still sideways glances when Susan would partner with Daphne in class. Draco Malfoy, in particular, had been harsh on the two girls. Harry and his group had seemed to be the only ones willing to branch out at all.

Sitting in Snape's potion class making a simple calming potion, Draco decided to have a little fun.

"Why do you bother humoring the worthless Hufflepuffs, Greengrass?" he said with a sneer toward Susan. "Bones there isn't fit enough to pleasure me let alone be graced with the presence of a Slytherin."

Harry had heard this type of language one day too long. It was a broken record since he turned down the blonde boy's offer of allegiance. "Malfoy, with the way you talk about your penis, it makes me think you're trying to convince yourself you even have one."

Draco swiftly turned his head to Harry. "Just because you turned down the opportunity to be in my circle," he said wiggling his eyebrows suggestively, "doesn't mean you can't step in Bones' place."

Rolling his eyes, Harry rose from his stool. Getting into his face, practically nose to nose, Harry paused holding the gaze of his foe. Stepping back, he waved his hand in front of his nose, "Do you even know what a toothbrush is, Malfoy?"

This had the desired effect as Draco wound back and drilled Harry across the left cheek. Falling like a sack of potatoes, Harry sprawled back.

Managing to garner the attention of Snape, he rose from his desk and walked over to the commotion. "15 points from Hufflepuff for inciting conflict," he said off hand as Susan stood up in indignation.

"You must mean Slytherin. Draco just hit Harry!"

The greasy haired professor turned around and chuckled, "I saw the entire thing, Miss Bones. Mr. Potter clearly started the trouble. Another 5 points from Hufflepuff for talking back to a professor. And detention for you Potter. See Filch tonight at 6."

"What about the feast?"

"Looks like you're just going to miss it this year. Perhaps you should practice self-control in the future, Mr. Potter."

Fuming, Harry got up off the floor and wiped himself off, cursing the damned Snape under his breath. What kind of person get his jollies from harassing teenagers? He wondered inwardly to himself as he went back to his cauldron to at least try and complete the assignment for the day. It seemed that no matter what he did, Snape always found a way to make his life miserable. As if he'd done something in a previous life that only Snape could remember. Quickly apologizing to Neville for losing his cool, they got back to work before they got themselves into any more trouble.

After class, as they were heading to Charms, Susan pulled Harry aside. "Thank you for standing up for me back there. I'm sorry it landed you in detention."

"It was no problem. He deserved it. Draco needs to learn eventually that he can't talk to people like that all the time and expect nothing to happen. I suspect he will get what's due to him soon enough. Or at least he'd better..."

Shrugging in hopeful agreement, Susan squeezed his shoulder and went back to talking with Daphne on their way to Professor Flitwick's class. Harry suspected that charms would be a good way to get his mind off of detention. Flitwick had been his favorite professor and he was looking forward to at least doing something with his wand. Potions could be so boring.

Flitwick came through with an interesting class period that helped them learn the an altered version of the levitation spell, wingardium leviosa. Simple steps. Extraordinary results. He thoroughly enjoyed the intricacy of performing charms.

Dismissing the class, Flitwick asked Harry to stay after. "I'm glad to see you are grasping the concepts so quickly, Mr. Potter. Your father would be proud. He was one of the best students I've ever had the pleasure of teaching."

Harry didn't have the heart to tell him that most of his mastery had come from prank spells and such. Harry didn't know much about his parents and was happy to learn more. "Honestly, sir, I don't know much about them. I lived with my relatives and they didn't tell me much if anything. And if they did, it was usually an insult."

"I'm sorry to hear that." Filius had quite enjoyed the days when the Marauders were on the grounds. He had caught them with that map of the school, but couldn't bring himself to take it from one of his most talented pupils. The school was so different then. Part of him wished he could return to that time. Magic was truly learned and understood in those days. "When I learned of your parents' death I was heartbroken for you. Your father was one of the last duelists I had the fortune of teaching."

"Duelist?"

Jumping from his platform, the diminutive professor walked across the room putting away the feathers they had been using. "Yes, yes. A fine one, indeed. Before the war with He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named, Hogwarts had a dueling club and class."

"Let me show you something." He led Harry across the room to a set of double doors. Opening them, he found a large elevated platform in the center of the room. "This is where I used to mold the fighters of tomorrow. Sadly, the board of governors had the class removed when students' parents began complaining of the minor injuries they were receiving. I hazard to guess that it was part of the reason there were so many deaths during the conflict. Many weren't prepared to fight for their lives, or even knew how."

That seemed odd to Harry. "Why would Dumbledore allow that to happen? Wouldn't the last war have shown them the foolishness of cutting the program?"

"There was very little discussion. I was just told that the class was being dissolved." Flitwick sighed as he shut the doors again. Filius knew for a fact that Lucius Malfoy's father, Draco's grandfather, had more to do with that decision than the rest of the board. Flitwick knew it was a losing battle to challenge a person who had as much power as the Malfoy family. Being part goblin, his voice didn't carry like a human who had similar credentials would.

An idea popped into Harry's head. He had a sinking feeling that even if Voldemort were vanquished, there would always be another person vying for power. "Do you think you could train me?"

"Am I not already?" Flitwick asked, assuming he was referring to charms.

"No, I mean how to duel. Fighting magic."

Flitwick pondered it for a moment. He wasn't sure if he was allowed to privately tutor the art or not. "I'll have to ask Dumbledore and tell him a student approached me about it. Perhaps we can work something out."

Harry was in no rush to head to detention, so he hung around, "How did you get into dueling in the first place? You don't seem to be that old. And from the way you talk, the class hasn't been offered for some time."

"I'm over 100 years old, Mr. Potter. In my youth I was a world champion for Hogwarts. They used to have an inter-school competition. Some would see my size as a disadvantage, but it made it that much harder for my opponents to hit me." Flitwick grinned at the memories sliding quickly through his mind.

"There's a professional circuit as well. I made a nice living for myself dueling. Many great friends, many devastating losses." He paused deep in thought as if remembering something that he hadn't for a very long time. "Sadly, all good things must come to an end." Harry could tell there was more to the story that he wasn't being told, but knew he wasn't going to privy to that quite yet.

"Best be off to the feast, Mr. Potter. You won't want to miss it this year!"

Not bothering to mention his detention knowing there'd be nothing he could do about it, he said his goodbyes to Flitwick and headed to the dungeons to serve his punishment.

Argus Filch was there to meet him. An evil glare was present in his eye. Almost a twinkle. "I always love when Snape decides to send me first years. It's too bad the headmaster did away with corporal punishment. Could've hung you by your thumbs for the night." The maniacal gleam returned to his eye at the proposition of such a punishment. "You'll be cleaning the 2nd floor tonight." Harry brandished his wand but was told to hand it over, "You won't be needing that." Filch summoned a mop, scraper, and bucket of water, for Harry. "Better get to work."

Harry was used to this type of work, so it didn't really phase him to be handed such a seemingly demeaning task. The Dursley's had used him as their own cleaning service for the past 15 years, so he was no stranger to these particular devices. Above, he could hear the rumblings of the Halloween feast above him.

Forty minutes into his detention, he heard a significantly different rumbling. The type of rumbling that shook the very insides of his being. There was no way that had come from the Great Hall. The ground began to shake as he tried to set his balance. At the far end of the hallway he saw what he had recently learned was a troll. His defense teacher, Quirrell, had taught them about trolls in a lecture last week. Magically impervious and dumb as a box of rocks. What in the world was it doing in the school? Club brandished, it began swinging its way into the abandoned girls' bathroom that Harry had just cleaned.

An ear-shattering scream broke him from his gut reaction to run. There was someone trapped in the bathroom with the troll. Sighing to himself, Harry did the noble thing. The stupid thing. But very noble, depending upon who you ask.

Filch had taken his wand so he didn't exactly know what he was going to do, but he figured a distraction would do until the teachers realized that there was a monster on the grounds. He would have no such luck.

The troll seemed to have a brown haired girl trapped in a corner. She would be killed if Harry didn't do something fast. Picking up a piece of rubble from the now destroyed doorway, he threw it as hard as he could at the back of the monster's head. It made a hollow thunk as the troll turned around stupidly trying to figure where it had come from. The club came flying around before Harry could react. Catching him in left shoulder and sending him across the room, he felt bones pretty well disintegrate as his body electrified with pain. Harry was stupid to think that a first year could ever handle a troll, let alone with no wand. It took a few moments for the beast to even realize that he had hit something.

Stumbling over to the now crippled form of Harry Potter, the troll put its foot on his chest as he raised his club as high as he could. Coming down with amazing force, the brute missed and instead hit the row of stalls next to Harry's head. The girl in background continued to scream as she left the bathroom altogether. Debris smashed into Harry's flesh, ripping gashes in his torso and face. If Harry didn't do something quickly, his newly found life was soon to be over.

Looking around as fast as he could, he found a piece of re-bar sticking out from the pieces of the damaged stalls. Acting on pure adrenaline, he grabbed it with his good arm and jammed it into the beast's foot. It took a few seconds for the beast to realize he had a piece of metal sticking out of his foot and even longer to realize that he was in pain. Stepping off Harry, it stumbled back and fell onto it's backside screaming in pain.

Regaining his breath slowly, Harry rolled to his side and onto his feet. He couldn't figure why the troll didn't just squash him with his foot rather than try to use a club that was bigger than he was. Not that Harry particularly minded the choice. There really wasn't much left for him to do and he didn't fancy being a troll meal. His best course of action was to run. He had never been in so much pain in his life. Even the beatings at the hands of the Dursleys was nothing compared to this.

Making it to the outside of the Great Hall to warn the school, he was met by Dumbledore, McGonagall, Flitwick, and Snape, who had been informed by the screaming girl of the troll in the dungeon. Harry collapsed in pain as he found his message had already been delivered.

* * *

Harry awoke in the hospital wing in the most pain he had ever been in his life. He looked around blearily. "Hello?" he croaked. His mouth was completely parched. It felt as if he had apparently swallowed a desert.

A heavyset nurse came rushing into his bedside. "How are you feeling dear? You took quite the beating from that troll... What were you THINKING trying to take it on by yourself?! You're only a first year!"

_Nice to meet you, too._ Harry thought to himself.

"It looks like the bones are healing quite well. Your upper arm and shoulder were completely shattered. Pair that with the cuts and abrasions on your face and torso, and you did quite a number on yourself." She began fussing over spells checking his vitals.

"My name is Madame Pomfrey. I'm the nurse for the school. I've never seen a boy so brazen in my life. The last one I even remember to be remotely like this was Sirius Black. Of course, he and your father were best of friends."

Harry groaned to himself, but perked slightly at the mention of his father and this Sirius Black fellow. "I had no intention of fighting the damned-"

"Language, Mr. Potter!" she scolded.

Trying not to burst in anger, Harry took a few calming breaths and a scream of pain before continuing. "I had no intention of fighting the troll by myself... I was in the dungeon serving detention for Snape when I saw the troll burst into the bathroom I had JUST cleaned." Harry didn't know why that was such a big deal to him. "I was going to run away, but I heard a scream and better judgment was pushed aside."

"Severus gave you detention during the feast? That isn't allowed in the school charter..." she mused to herself under her breath. All students were supposed to be accounted for during major school events. It was a mandatory assembly of the student body. "Yes, that was the same story we got from the Granger girl. She was in a right mess when she burst into the Great Hall. Very dramatic, if you ask me. Seems to be getting a lot of trouble lately, what with the troll and rememberall incident."

Harry gasped in pain as he felt as if a metal rod was being jammed into his arm. From what Madame Pomfrey had been telling him, there was next to nothing left of those bones.

"Oh, best get you back to sleep. You woke up a few hours before you should have. We'll talk when you wake up."

Giving him another potion and moving her wand in an odd pattern, Harry drifted into a painless and dreamless sleep.

What seemed like minutes later, Harry awoke again. He arm still throbbed and he realized that his face was in pain as well. Most of his torso seemed to hurt.

Sitting up, he realized that his left arm was stiff, but was working with relatively little pain. Madame Pomfrey rushed in after hearing him stir. "Let me inspect your other injuries, Harry. I was more concerned with your arm and shoulder that I didn't get a chance to look over the rest of them to see how they were healing."

Harry pulled off the shirt that was partially sticking to his body. Madam Pomfrey walked around to get a better look at the back of the boy and dropped the entire tray of utensils she was carrying.

(A/N) Alright! I had to pack in the canon storyline into this chapter. I swear that the rest of the chapters will have a better fleshed out storyline. The faster I could get through those first few months up to through the discovery of the cerberus and the troll on Halloween, the better I could set up the rest of the first year events. I'm sorry if some of it felt rushed, but there were very few portions of this chapter that were mine and not just regurgitation of the actual story. Anyway, PLEASE review. Even if it's a simple "HELLO" or whatever. I love hearing from readers.


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